10/17/2018 Milestones: 1866–1898 - Office of the Historian

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MILESTONES: 1866–1898 

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The Spanish-American War, 1898

The Spanish-American War of 1898 ended Spain’s colonial empire in the Western Hemisphere and secured the position of the
United States as a Paci c power. U.S. victory in the war produced a peace treaty that compelled the Spanish to relinquish claims
on Cuba, and to cede sovereignty over Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines to the United States. The United States also
annexed the independent state of Hawaii during the con ict. Thus, the war enabled the United States to establish its
predominance in the Caribbean region and to pursue its strategic and economic interests in Asia.

Charge of the 24th and 25th Colored Infantry and Rescue of Rough Riders at San Juan Hill, July 2nd 1898 (Kurz and Allison)
The war that erupted in 1898 between the United States and Spain was preceded by three years of ghting by Cuban
revolutionaries to gain independence from Spanish colonial rule. From 1895–1898, the violent con ict in Cuba captured the
attention of Americans because of the economic and political instability that it produced in a region within such close
geographical proximity to the United States. The long-held U.S. interest in ridding the Western Hemisphere of European
colonial powers and American public outrage over brutal Spanish tactics created much sympathy for the Cuban
revolutionaries. By early 1898, tensions between the United States and Spain had been mounting for months. After the U.S.
battleship Maine exploded and sank in Havana harbor under mysterious circumstances on February 15, 1898, U.S. military
intervention in Cuba became likely.

On April 11, 1898, President William McKinley asked Congress for authorization to end the ghting in Cuba between the rebels
and Spanish forces, and to establish a “stable government” that would “maintain order” and ensure the “peace and
tranquility and the security” of Cuban and U.S. citizens on the island. On April 20, the U.S. Congress passed a joint resolution

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10/17/2018 Milestones: 1866–1898 - Office of the Historian

that acknowledged Cuban independence, demanded that the Spanish government give up control of the island, foreswore any
intention on the part of the United States to annex Cuba, and authorized McKinley to use whatever military measures he
deemed necessary to guarantee Cuba’s independence.

The Spanish government rejected the U.S. ultimatum and immediately severed diplomatic relations with the United States.
McKinley responded by implementing a naval blockade of Cuba on April 22 and issued a call for 125,000 military volunteers the
following day. That same day, Spain declared war on the United States, and the U.S. Congress voted to go to war against Spain
on April 25.

The future Secretary of State John Hay described the ensuing con ict as a “splendid little war.” The rst battle was fought on
May 1, in Manila Bay, where Commodore George Dewey’s Asiatic Squadron defeated the Spanish naval force defending the
Philippines. On June 10, U.S. troops landed at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba and additional forces landed near the harbor city of
Santiago on June 22 and 24. After isolating and defeating the Spanish Army garrisons in Cuba, the U.S. Navy destroyed the
Spanish Caribbean squadron on July 3 as it attempted to escape the U.S. naval blockade of Santiago.

Secretary of State John Hay

On July 26, at the behest of the Spanish government, the French ambassador in Washington, Jules Cambon, approached the
McKinley Administration to discuss peace terms, and a cease- re was signed on August 12. The war o cially ended four
months later, when the U.S. and Spanish governments signed the Treaty of Paris on December 10, 1898. Apart from
guaranteeing the independence of Cuba, the treaty also forced Spain to cede Guam and Puerto Rico to the United States. Spain
also agreed to sell the Philippines to the United States for the sum of $20 million. The U.S. Senate rati ed the treaty on
February 6, 1899, by a margin of only one vote.

The McKinley Administration also used the war as a pretext to annex the independent state of Hawaii. In 1893, a group of
Hawaii-based planters and businessmen led a coup against Queen Liliuokalani and established a new government. They
promptly sought annexation by the United States, but President Grover Cleveland rejected their requests. In 1898, however,
President McKinley and the American public were more favorably disposed toward acquiring the islands. Supporters of
annexation argued that Hawaii was vital to the U.S. economy, that it would serve as a strategic base that could help protect U.S.
interests in Asia, and that other nations were intent on taking over the islands if the United States did not. At McKinley’s
request, a joint resolution of Congress made Hawaii a U.S. territory on August 12, 1898.

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